(1) Field of the Invention
This invention relates to an electronic equipment and a hinge connector used for the same, and more particularly to an electronic equipment provided with two openable housings, and a hinge connector electrically connecting the two housings together.
(2) Description of the Related Art
A hinge connector has heretofore been used for hinge portions by which a pair of openable housing structures of an electronic equipment, such as a note type personal computer and a portable telephone, are connected together openably, electrically and mechanically.
For example, a note type personal computer, which will hereinafter be referred to as a note type PC, is provided with a PC body, a liquid crystal display, which will hereinafter be referred to as LCD, and a hinge unit adapted to connect housings of the LCD and PC body together so that these housings can be pivotally moved. The PC body is provided with a housing, in which a keyboard integral therewith is provided. The LCD is formed of a housing provided with a front frame 21 and a liquid crystal display (LCD) body.
Each hinge unit is provided with hinge portions, and cylindrical portions provided on each housing. At least one hinge portion houses therein a hinge connector for electrically connecting a LCD body and a PC body together. The hinge connector is joined at one end thereof to a connector provided on the PC body, and at the other end thereof to the LCD.
Such a related art hinge connector is provided with a pair of one-end-opened connector cylinders to be mutually engaged with each other. Each of the connector cylinders is provided with a radially projecting and axially extending linear gutter-like fitting portion made integral therewith. A flexible printed board (FPC) is wound by bending an intermediate portion thereof, and this wound portion is housed in the connector cylinder. Both end portions of the flexible printed board are formed as connectors, which are housed in the fitting portions respectively and supported fixedly therein.
In the above-described related art hinge connector, the mechanical connection and electrical connection of the housings are made in the same direction. In such a structure, a high stress is imparted to an electrically connecting portion in some cases. In such a case, it was necessary to give a sufficient strength to the electrically connecting portion, i.e. a connector portion, or have a sufficiently skilled worker carry out the connection operation.
In order to give a sufficient strength to a hinge connector, the dimensions of thereof necessarily become large, and such a large hinge connector proved unsuitable for a small-sized portable equipment.
The end users"" selecting a unit for an electronic equipment by themselves have been increasingly demanded as a new recent tendency. Since the operations for meeting such a demand cannot be carried out by anybody except a skilled worker, it has been impossible to satisfy what the users desire.
In the assembling of a unit for an electronic equipment, it is necessary that a stable electric performance thereof be secured in a small space. Furthermore, a concept of forming a unit so that the unit can be replaced simply with another has been demanded.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a hinge connector apable of preventing damage to connector portions, which would occur when housings of an electronic equipment are mechanically joined to the connector portions constituting electrically connecting portions, by separating a structure of an electrically connecting portion and that of a mechanically connecting portion from each other.
It is another object of the present invention to provide an electronic equipment using this hinge connector.
According to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided an electronic equipment which has a first housing and a second housing connected together by a hinge unit so that the housings can be pivotally moved. The first housing has a first hinge connector portion in the hinge unit. The second housing has a second hinge connector portion in the hinge unit. The second hinge connector portion is housed in the hinge unit so that the second hinge connector portion can be slidingly moved between a position in which the second hinge connector portion is housed therein and a position in which the second hinge connector portion projects out therefrom. The first housing and second housing are connected together mechanically. The first and second hinge connector portions are thereafter connected together by slidingly moving the second hinge connector portion in the direction crossing this connecting direction at right angles thereto. The first housing and second housing are thereby connected together electrically.
In this electronic equipment and according to the present invention, the first hinge connector portion and second hinge connector portion are preferably formed so that they are in a connected condition and pivotable when the first housing and second housing are pivotally moved.
According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a hinge connector used in such a hinge unit as mentioned above of an electronic equipment in which a first housing and a second housing are connected together pivotably by the hinge unit has a first hinge connector portion and a second hinge connector portion. The first hinge connector portion has a first insulator and a first FPC held on a circumference of an inner surface of the first insulator and provided with a first connecting portion to be joined to the second hinge connector portion. The second hinge connector portion has a second insulator and a second FPC held on a circumference of an outer surface of the second insulator and provided with a second connecting portion to be joined to the first hinge connector portion.
In this invention, the first and second insulators are preferably formed to a mutually engageable cylindrical or cross-sectionally polygonal shape.